Today the company announced its first round of Global Impact Awards, granting $23 million to seven organizations it says are changing the world.

"Technology has dramatically improved our lives -- from the speed at which we get things done to how we connect with others," said Jacqueline Fuller, director of giving at Google, in a blog post. "Yet innovations in medicine, business and communications have far outpaced tech-enabled advances in the nonprofit sector."

The awards attempt to change that. The beneficiaries are:

charity: water. The organization that promotes access to clean water got $5 million to install remote sensors at 4,000 water points across Africa, monitoring and recording water flows to improve access for more than 1 million people.

Consortium for the Barcode of Life. The organization received $3 million to create an easier way to identify and protect endangered wildlife as traders attempt to smuggle it into other countries.

DonorsChoose.org. Received $5 million to create 500 new AP science and math courses.

Equal Opportunity Schools: Received $1.8 million to identify 6,000 high-performing low-income students and move them into advanced courses.